Dorsaneo13

While we are away travelling Italy for 3 weeks we got to thinking how much clothes we want to take with us. We feel that if we take about a weeks worth of clothes we should be fine if we can get them washed along the way.

What would be the easiest way to wash your clothes without it costing an arm and a leg while travelling around. We maybe staying in mainly b&b's with the odd hotel.

Thanks

Michael

We've had some B&Bs do our laundry for us for free, We never asked for the service, usually asked where we could find a laundromat and the host offered to do the laundry for us. Large cities have laundromats, although not always in the tourist areas, and finding them is not always easy.

If in Naples I can tell you where there is a laundry service, the same goes for a laundromat in Leipzig.

laurie_ann

Here's one of the most complete explanations I have seen.

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/health/laundry

mokka4

Sink, individual pkts of clothes detergent and Rick Steves clothesline. Do socks and underwear every night, so dirty clothes don't amass!

ekc

Great that you are thinking of taking 1 weeks worth of clothes instead of 3! Yay for packing light!!

I just bring little packets of Woolight and wash my unmentionables and t-shirts in the sink (or bidet) and hang them to dry overnight. I bring a large ziplock in case something isn't completely dry when we have to leave.

PalenQ

hair shampoo does wonder cleaning clothes - no need to carry any dewtergent, for me at least! In the hotel bidet or sink.

HappyTrvlr

In addition to hand washing, we always drop some laundry off at a lavanderia that offers wash, dry and fold service. We don't want to waste our valuable time waiting around and doing our own laundry.Actually, Italy has been easiest place that we have found in Europe to easily find this service.
If you plan on doing any hand laundry remember to bring a sink stopper.

Dukey1

I used to do the laundry, at least socks and underwear, every night routine and it works. And it particularly works if you are one of these people who "say" you can go to Europe for eons with "only a carry-on bag." Like those home and garden magazines and Ms. Martha which who never ever mention garbage, laundry is an essential for most of us (either that or a LOT of deodorant) so what to do now?

These days I ask the hotel where the nearest laundromat is and for the most part that has worked well (it might include a taxi ride at time but it has worked). For other things which might need ironing or starch or both I have the hotel do it, I budget that expense into the thinking, and I spend my time doing other things.

Good luck to you; been there, done that, and know how stressful it can be.

greg

I wash them in my bathroom/bathtub sink. Cost=€0.
However, to enable this, you must have put much thought into your wardrobe and buy textiles that can be hand washed, dry quickly, and do not require ironing.

Some think such clothes are not fashionable. While high end clothes don't come in such textiles, if you get more critical in choosing materials, you can minimize, if not eliminate, need to find laundry facilities. I do bring non-hand washable items from time to time. They consist less than 1/4 of what I take.

Dorsaneo13

Thank you so much everyone for your replies ye really have been a great big help One less thing found out and can have one the list of things to remember.

Jean

If you decide you're going to hand-wash, buy one of those stretch clotheslines to rig up over the bathtub/shower. I also take a sink stopper.

You can probably buy all of these items separately for less, but here's one-stop shopping on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Going-In-Style...el+clothesline

bvlenci

When I travel, I wear the same outfits multiple times, so I wouldn't have to wash clothing, other than socks and underwear, when traveling for three weeks, and I wouldn't have a big suitcase, either. I bring separates, and make sure everything matches everything else. I don't bring anything that shows light soil easily, and I spot clean anything that gets a spill on it.

I assume that slacks can be worn four or five times, and tops can be worn three or four times. In hot weather, I would wear each piece fewer times, but the clothing is lighter, so the space in the suitcase is the same. I try not to wear the same things two days in a row, so they can air out between wearings. When I arrive at a hotel, I immediately hang everything up.

I don't bring anything dressy on a trip, unless I've been invited to dinner at the embassy. I wear the same type of outfit to dinner in the evening that I wear during the day. If I change for dinner, which is rare, I change into the outfit I'll be wearing the next day.

I don't carry washing powder. For a small wash of socks and underwear, the hotel shampoo works fine.

If you need to find a laundromat, there are usually some in the vicinity of a train station. Your hotel can help you find one. Italian dry cleaners will wash, dry, and iron clothing for you, and even mend it, but they might take a few days.

Fidel

"I just bring little packets of Woolight and wash my unmentionables and t-shirts in the sink (or bidet) and hang them to dry overnight."

Are you sure the bidet is a good spot for that?

ekc

Yes - it works like a charm. It is clean and no need to clog up the sink washing clothes.

I don't bring a clothesline, as I just hang items on the towel racks and hangers. I have started shopping the sales at Icebreaker, because their clothes pack and wash wonderfully for travel.

SkipHudgins

We used to do in room. Now we do at laundry. Ask BB or hotel. They will direct you, or as others have said, will let you use theirs. We only ask for washed and folded. Have it written in Italian. No hangers, etc. Learned that the hard way. Not expensive. Told the laundry in Montalcino where we were staying and a day later they delivered to the hotel. Pretty easy and less hassle than turning your bathroom or room into a drying area.
Take a weeks worth of clothes and then wash each 6 to 8 days so a month long trip.

aliced

I used those little individual packets till a friend told me about the Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets that wash a standard machine load; cut it in half vertically (they're about 5x7 and weigh as much as a dryer sheet)to expose the detergent & softener and will do a small tub or large sink worth. We always do some laundry at those places where we'll spend 3 nights; everything is sure to be dry within 2 days although we pack quick-dry clothing for these types of trips always. We have the twistie-clothes line which is silicone I believe and have stayed in several places where the towel racks were not sufficient and this line has velcro straps as well as adhesive cups (which do not always hold). You can drop the line vertically over shower rod and fasten 20 things that way.

Fra_Diavolo

Yes, yes, everyone wants to live like the locals do -- except when it comes to doing the laundry.

We use a wash, dry and fold place if we can find one, a regular laundromat if we can't (an excellent cultural window), and the hotel service as a last resort.

bvlenci

A bidet is just a little bathtub. The same body parts that go into a bidet also go into a bathtub, don't they? We give babies their bath in the bidet.

StCirq

On hot summer days after a lot of walking, I love to fill the bidet with ice and soak my feet in it. There's nothing wrong with doing hand wash in a bidet, either.

greg

There are some gotchas with the Hotel/B&B laundry. Tiny family inns don't necessarily offer this service. If the accommodation does this, there are time and day restrictions. You need to stay at least two nights (at least late enough into the afternoon to retrieve the items) and they might not offer this service on weekends and on holidays.